Following our increasingly erratic government’s exam climbdown yesterday, I know I should be relieved. And, of course, I am relieved for my amazing students, who, for the most part, have worked so hard, as well as the hundreds of thousands of others who will now get the grades they have earned.
But I’m still furious. Steaming.
Why did we need to go through this? Why cause these poor young people so much undue stress and heartache? Why do this to the teachers, families and school leaders who could only watch in horror as the fiasco unfolded in front of our eyes, knowing there would be nothing we could do to make it better?
It didn’t have to be like this.
A-level and GCSE results: Elected leaders devoid of empathy
It was never going to be easy, I know, but the solution was never going to be found by ignoring the experts who have spent their whole careers putting children and young people at the centre of decisions that affect them.
So, yes, I am truly happy that the grading system is going to be fairer now. But, nevertheless, I am still raging at our elected “leaders” for being apparently devoid of empathy. I’m furious at the politicians who failed to understand that students are individual human people, each with their own personal stories, hopes and struggles. No: our students were simply going to be collateral damage.
How dare they? How bloody dare they?
At my school (as I’m sure is the case in almost every school across the country), we were forensically fair in our grading. And, yes, in some cases it was really upsetting - I mean, who wants to grade a pupil a 3 instead of the coveted 4? Or award a grade 1 or a U? It feels really personal. But we had to be real. Honest. Professional. If only our elected representatives could act in the same manner…
Nothing short of incompetent
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said he hadn’t seen the algorithm as he less-than-gallantly threw Ofqual under the bus. And the crazy thing is that he thinks that this excuse justifies the monumental cock-up we’ve had to live through. If anything, it’s actually worse. Grade U, I would say.
Williamson is saying that he didn’t care enough - not about the future of our young people, nor the integrity of what is right and fair - to even look at the algorithm he had requested before the results were issued? This is literally your job. It’s just not good enough.
The whole handling of the coronavirus crisis, from the personal protective equipment scandal to the disregard shown to our elderly in care homes, from the disastrous track-and-trace app to the refusal to be part of the EU procurement scheme, not to mention the disdain shown to schools and teachers throughout, has been nothing short of incompetent.
The truth is that I don’t know what will happen next. I don’t know which hoops we’ll have to jump through or which battles we’ll have to fight, but I do know this: to all our students opening those envelopes on Thursday, we’ve got you. We always have.
Just promise me one thing? You’ll remember this government’s alarming lack of competence at the first chance you get to vote.
Kate Martin is vice-principal at Restormel Academy, an alternative-provision school in Cornwall. She tweets @k8martin
